Out of nowhere, Kenny Atkinson was fired yesterday morning. I’m not sure anybody really saw the move coming or at least coming in season. Brooklyn is a playoff team with no Kevin Durant and essentially no Kyrie Irving. Were things really that bad with the Nets? We now have more to the story. Kyrie Irving hated Kenny Atkinson and vice versa.
Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports had the story:
“Kenny pushed for the parting just as much, if not more than Brooklyn,” a league source told Yahoo Sports.
Multiple sources told Yahoo Sports that Atkinson wasn’t fond of coaching Durant and Irving based on what he saw this season, and would rather something happen now than at the end of the season.
Irving soured on Atkinson early, league sources told Yahoo Sports, and currently prefers Clippers assistant Tyronn Lue to be the team’s next head coach. Lue was the head coach in Cleveland when Irving hit the winning shot in the 2016 NBA Finals and was in talks to take the Lakers job before discussions broke down.”
I’m not wrong often, I’ll take the L for this one. I thought the Nets really had their shit together and eventually had a really good chance to win the title next year. I’m taking the L before next season ever begins. It’s impossible to defend Kyrie Irving at this point. He doesn’t like anybody. Kenny Atkinson is a really good coach and did a hell of a job developing young talent in Brooklyn.
I thought Kyrie left Cleveland and Ty Lue “because he wanted to be coached”? Then he got mad at Brad Stevens. Within an hour he decided coach Kenny isn’t cutting it? I was wrong and blinded by the talent. This man is a disaster and will tank the legacy of Kevin Durant.
